Birds
Justin and I went swimming in the river yesterday. It was ball-busting cold, and we basically floundered in the shade off-shore until we finally threw ourselves into the current and found a sunny spot where it was warmer. The river is considerably higher than it was last friday when we went swimming and even higher than it was a few weeks ago. Where is all the water coming from? Not rain... a melt, maybe? We clung to a rock about 15 feet off shore and watched as stuff fell from under the one of the column supports of the footbridge. We never did figure out what it was, it looked like large water droplets and no bird could shit that much.

Good news! We saw the gaggle of duckies from the other day and it appears that the Stupid Duckie was reunited with his family. They were out swimming in the current and being stalked by a Cormorant and a Red Tailed Hawk.

This morning, I noticed the river was even higher. I was thinking about the duckies and looking at a threesome of adults swimming below when lo and behold! Baby Ducks galore! I counted not two, four, or eight ducklings, but a whole herd of NINE duckies PLUS the five from yesterday and last week! I thought surely they must be more than two families but no, all nine ducklings belonged to one mom and five to the other. The nine were considerably bigger than the five, almost full grown, but they were still playing like kids. I think that the five might be a slightly different breed of duck, as their mom is smaller and more downy than the others'.

The raven was back again. He flew over the bridge as I was standing there. It looks like his feathers have begun to grow back. It still always feels ominous when I see him but he really hasn't been a portend in the past, so I wonder why. I want one of his feathers to add to the altar I built on the large oak dresser in our bedroom.

A large Red-tail also did a fly-by as I was watching the ducks, but he didn't seem to bother them. There were several other birds of prey riding currents over the river, and a large bird crouched on a small island, too far out for me to see. I wished I had binocs... or even better, a camera with a zoom lens, it's like a wildlife reserve right in my own back yard!

Justin was pleased, yesterday on his way to meet me at the river, he got to watch the EPD K-9 unit training their attack dogs in the canoe track. He gets so giddy to see the Shepherds all happy and running and running and growling!! His gleeful reaction is somewhere between cute and unnerving.

Today is my last Scuba class. I'll have my written final and last swim lab before the trip to the coast this weekend. Guess I'll find out today if Rob has been able to come up with a Local Diving instructor so that Justin can come with us.